Pros

Cons

Bottom Line

The Nest X Yale Lock with Nest Connect is a sharp-looking smart door lock that combines Yale reliability with Nest IoT home connectivity.

June 22, 2018

The latest addition to the Nest family of smart home devices, the Nest X Yale Lock with Nest Connect ($279) is a sleek-looking smart door lock that you can control from anywhere using Nest's intuitive mobile app or web console. As with most smart locks, it's fairly easy to install, and it offers some nice features including Auto-Lock, One-Touch Locking, and a timeline that tells you who has locked and unlocked the door and when. It's a great choice if you already use other Nest devices, but it doesn't offer quite the same level of interoperability that you get with our Editors' Choice, the August SmartLock Pro + Connect.

Design and Features

The Nest X Yale Lock is a beautifully crafted product. The exterior escutcheon sports the same black glass capacitive touch screen and white backlit keypad as the Yale Assure Lock SL (YRD256) and comes in the same colors (Oil Rubbed Bronze, Polished Brass, or Satin Nickel), but at 4.5 by 2.5 by 0.8 inches (HWD), it's a bit narrower and longer.

There's a small speaker on the right side and two terminals on the bottom that you can use as a fail-safe if the lock's batteries die. Simply place a 9-volt battery up against the terminals to supply power to the lock. The keypad remains dark until you touch the Yale logo, then it displays a numeric keypad, a back button, a check button, and a settings button. The check and back buttons are used during setup, and pressing the settings button initiates a voice command to go to the Nest app to adjust settings.

The color-matched interior escutcheon looks identical to the YRD256's escutcheon: It measures 7.0 by 2.7 by 2.0 inches and has a black plastic battery cover (the lock runs on four AA batteries), a blue backlit button that enables and disables privacy mode, and a thumbscrew for manual locking and unlocking. Privacy mode disables access to the keypad, which means the door can only be unlocked from the inside.

The lock does not contain a Wi-Fi radio. Instead, it connects to the included Nest Connect hub, which connects to your home Wi-Fi to allow access from anywhere. The white hub is relatively small (3.1 by 2.2 by 1.8 inches) and plugs into a wall outlet in a location between your router and the lock. If you already own a Nest Connect hub or the Nest Secure home security system, you can buy the lock on its own for $249.

The lock interacts with other Nest devices and works with Nest's mobile and web-based apps. For example, if you have a Nest Cam Outdoor or a Nest Hello Doorbell that lets you see who is outside, you can lock or unlock the door using the same app, though you can't have the lock trigger a camera when it is locked or unlocked. However, you can use Nest's Home/Away Assist feature to turn compatible smart lights on and off, and automatically arm and disarm the Nest Secure security system when the lock is locked and unlocked. Home/Away Assist can also be used to activate the Auto-Lock feature, which automatically locks the door after a specified period time when you've left home (10 seconds, one minute, or five minutes).

Missing is support for Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands, although Nest promises more integrations are coming. Moreover, the lock doesn't support interaction with IFTTT devices or Z-Wave home automation devices like the August SmartLock Pro + Connect does.

Once installed, the lock is listed as a device on the Nest app's home screen. Tap the icon to open the Lock screen, which has a large circle that shows the lock's current status (locked, unlocked, offline). Pressing and holding the circle for a second or two locks and unlocks the door and changes the status. A line of text below the circle shows the last time the lock was used and by whom.

At the bottom of the screen is a button that enables and disables privacy mode, a Family and Guest button that takes you to a screen where you can add users and assign permanent or temporary access with specific access days and times, and a History button that takes you to a screen that shows a timeline of events. Tap any day to see when the lock was opened and closed and by whom. Here you can also see when privacy mode has been enabled and disabled, when the Auto-Lock feature has been used, and when/if the lock has gone offline and come back online.

A gear icon in the upper right corner of the Lock screen takes you to a screen where you can enable the Home/Away Assist and Auto-Lock features, enable/disable lock and unlock notifications, enable/disable One-Touch Locking, which lets you tap the Yale logo to automatically lock the door, and enable/disable Privacy mode.

Installation and Performance

Whereas locks such as the August SmartLock Pro, the Friday Lock, and the Danalock V3 BTZU all use your existing deadbolt latch and cylinder hardware, the Nest X Yale lock replaces everything and takes a bit longer to install. That said, it's fairly easy to install and comes with comprehensive instructions, though if you're not handy or would rather have it done professionally, you can call a local locksmith or use the Nest Pro service to find an authorized installer. And if this is your first Nest device, you'll have to download the app and create an account.

To start, I completely removed my old deadbolt lock and installed the Nest deadbolt latch assembly. I attached the outer keypad to the interior mounting plate using the included hardware, making sure to carefully thread the data cable through the appropriate hole, attached the cable to the interior escutcheon, and screwed the escutcheon to the mounting plate. After ensuring that the manual thumbscrew turned easily, I inserted the four AA batteries and was greeted with a, "Hi from Yale and Nest," voice command, and was prompted to press the Yale logo to begin.

Following the voice prompts I created a master code (using four to eight digits) and closed the door. I pressed the check icon when prompted to check the mechanical lock and unlock operation, and was ready to add the lock to my Nest account. I opened the app, tapped the settings gear in the upper right corner, and selected Add Product. I scanned the barcode on the Nest Connect, plugged it in, and waited a few seconds while Nest Assist grabbed my network settings from a Nest Cam Indoor that was previously installed. I tapped Add Another Device, scanned the barcode on the inside of the lock's interior escutcheon, and gave the lock a location. This launched a video tutorial. I was then prompted to press and hold the button on the interior assembly until the light flashed blue and the lock said, "ready." I tapped Next and waited several seconds while the lock was added to my Nest account, and the installation was complete. I then moved on to the Passcode screen, where I created unique codes for myself and my family members.

With the exception of the Schlage Century Touchscreen Deadbolt Lock that we reviewed several years ago, nearly all of the smart locks we've come across are relatively quiet, but the Nest X Yale lock might be the quietest yet. It's also a solid performer, never failing to lock or unlock when I pressed the app button.

The Home/Away Assist Auto Lock feature also worked without a hitch, automatically locking the door one minute after I left home. Push notifications arrived quickly after each lock and unlock event, and the One-Touch Locking feature never failed to lock the door when the Yale logo was pressed. Additionally, the lock always followed my Family and Guests rules, allowing and denying access to certain users during specific times and days in accordance with my schedule.

Conclusions

The Nest X Yale Lock with Nest Connect is a solid choice for a smart door lock, especially if you've already outfitted your home with other Nest devices such as the Nest Secure security solution, the Nest Hello Doorbell, and one or more Nest Cam security cameras. It's easy to install and configure, and the Nest Connect hub lets you open and close the lock and grant access to friends and family from anywhere. The lock not only performed flawlessly in our tests, but was one of the quietest locks we've tested. For now, though, it lacks the support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice control that you get with our Editors' Choice, the August SmartLock Pro + Connect, and it doesn't support IFTTT applets or work with Z-Wave devices. But according to Nest, more integrations are on the way, and we'll update this review when they arrive.

About the Author

As a Contributing Editor for PC Magazine, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, HDTVs, PCs, servers, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for more than 14 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of the Labs technical staff, as well as evaluating and maintaining the integrity of the Labs testing machines and procedures.

Prior to joining Ziff Davis Publishing, John spent six years in retail operations for Federated Stores, Inc. before accepting a purchasing position with Morris Decision Systems, one of New York's first value-added resellers of the original IBM PC. For … See Full Bio